Tag Archives: Incarnation

Lots of images are well known for Christmas–shepherds, angels, wise men, Mary in blue, baby Jesus in a manger. There is a less well known image of what Christmas means in Revelation:

6 Then, in between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a Lamb, standing as if it had been slain.

This one sentence says quite a bit about who Jesus is. The Lamb is Christ, because he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It had been slain because Jesus was crucified and died, although the Lamb is alive now because he was also raised from the dead.

Then there is the location of the Lamb. The throne is God’s throne. The four living creatures represent creation. The twenty-four elders are representative of Christians and the Church. So…Jesus Christ–who died and was raised again–is in the middle of the way between the throne of God and creation, and he is in the midst of the Church. This makes sense because Jesus is God, he came into creation in the Incarnation, and the Church is the Body of Christ on earth.

This image is packed full of meaning, and it could only exist because of Christmas and the Incarnation.

Every religion in the world has a list of rules that were given, in some form or fashion, from on high. Adherents to that religion then need to do the best they can to live up to those rules and laws. At the end (either one’s personal end or the end of all things), these people will be judged by how well they kept those laws. Whether it is Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, or any other religion, this is how it works. The vision and understanding of what a reward is may be different, but the process is the same.

Christianity is different, though. It is different precisely because of who Jesus Christ is. He is the One True God who came in the flesh. Look at the introduction to the Book of Hebrews:

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by the Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

The reality of Christianity is that it is not a message that was given by human prophets nor is it a message that was mediated by semi-divine beings like angels or demigods. Instead, the One True God came to this world and gave us the truth of the Gospel. Because of God’s presence on earth in Jesus Christ, we now have access to the very presence of God in heaven.

God, through his ministry on earth, has opened the heavens to us. Instead of us trying to work our way to the presence of God through following a legal code, God comes to us and offers himself to us. The requirement on our part is that we offer ourselves to him and live for him. It is not a long list of rules and laws we are to follow, but rather it is a life of love for God and all other people that we are to live, and the presence of the Living God in our lives actually enables us to do this. We are not left alone, struggling to climb our way to God. God has come to us and offers us his grace and power in our lives to remain in his presence.

Christmas is about God coming to earth to eliminate the distance between us and him. Christmas is about the Son, the Living God, who took on flesh and dwelt among us so that we could dwell with him.